


Being the Captain isn't all it's cracked up to be

by Darth_Sylph



Series: My Love Live Sunshine!/Star Trek Online crossover-verse [2]
Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!, Star Trek Online
Genre: Antisubmarine Warfare, Ao3's Tags are so much better than FF, Convoy Tactics, Crossover, F/F, Idols, Idols in SPAAAAACE, Interstellar Warfare, Military terms, Science Fiction, Slow Updates, Space Exploration, but in SPAAAACE, how did you figure that out?, i can actually include all the characters, instead of just four, might use game terminology, why yes i'm basing this off of one of my STO characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:22:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23412286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darth_Sylph/pseuds/Darth_Sylph
Summary: as a child, Yō Watanabe had always wanted to be the captain of her very own starship, but those things are expensive! so she settled for the next-best thing: Captaining a Starfleet vesselfifteen or so years later, she's now the Captain of a brand new Cruiser, the USSAqours, and her closest friends make up her command staff, what are the odds?(thanks Mari!)their first mission sounds easy enough. Escort unarmed transport ships through friendly territory, then report to Kobali Prime for Planetary Defense duty.simple right? Not if Murphy has anything to say about it...
Relationships: Kunikida Hanamaru/Kurosawa Dia, Matsuura Kanan/Ohara Mari, Sakurauchi Riko/Tsushima Yoshiko, Takami Chika/Watanabe You
Series: My Love Live Sunshine!/Star Trek Online crossover-verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1694530
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	1. Commander Dia Kurosawa, and Lieutenant Commander Riko Sakurauchi

_"Ship's Log, Stardate 87103.197, at 1600 hours, Commander Dia Kurosawa assumes command for Beta shift"_

_"Chief Engineer’s Log, Stardate 87103.767 (21:00). We’ve just passed the halfway mark of Beta Shift, and all remains quiet. Most of the crew is currently either asleep or relaxing during their off shift. No hostile activity detected, and all shipboard systems are functioning at peak efficiency. I expect the rest of this assignment to proceed in the same manner. End Log”_

Dia placed the PADD containing her most recent log entry onto the arm of the command chair with a quiet sigh of contentment. This time of day, the eight hours between 1600 and midnight, was her favorite. As proud as she was of her Betazoid heritage, the telepathy is not as…useful, as it is made out to be in Earth fiction. N-not that she’s ever consumed such frivolous entertainment of course, she heard it from a friend!

 _Ahem._ Normally, keeping the stray thoughts of others out of her consciousness was simple; but keeping the combined thoughts and flights of fancy of a group as erratic and foolish as her fellow senior officers was orders of magnitude more difficult than anything she’d ever experienced before. It almost made her miss living in the crowded chaos of the Earth Spacedock dormitories. Almost.

She sighed again, quietly this time, and picked up the PADD again, flipping over to the various departmental reports filed during the previous shift. _Now, back to work. These reports won’t complete themselves after all._

But of course, the demon Murphy chose that moment to pay the _Aqours_ a visit, and the Beta shift bridge crew was graced with a quiet but insistent _“Beebeebeebeebeebee.”_

One eyebrow twitches upwards in irritation, and Dia glances towards one of the unoccupied secondary Tactical stations positioned along the starboard side of the bridge, from which a high-pitched constant tone alerts users to a situation that the ship’s computer cannot resolve on it’s own. Dia glances towards the port side of the bridge, where a young Andorian Ensign is staring at the offending console in shock.

“I do believe that sounds important Miss Osmire.” The dry tone of Dia’s mild reproach snaps the inexperienced junior officer out of her shock, and she replies with a hurried (and embarrassed) “Yes Ma’am!” Before hurriedly crossing the bridge to check the alert.

When a minute passes with no further update from the young _Shen[1]_ , Dia gives her a gentle telepathic nudge. Followed up by a verbal reminder: “Ensign, I’m waiting.”

“Sorry Ma’am! It’s just, I’m not entirely sure what to make of this Commander.” Her antennae twitching furiously, the young Ensign continues to punch away at the console.

It was then that one of the other crewmen, Chief Specialist Mariah, took pity on the rookie. She transferred the functions of her station from along the back wall to the console adjacent Ensign Osmire, then joined the young Andorian at the starboard tactical station. “Here, let me take a look commander, it’s rare that us Science branch people have anything to do on this ship.” The blond human woman lightly pushes her Andorian crew mate aside

“Consider it a training exercise Ensign. Pay close attention to Specialist Maria” Amusedly, Dia allows it. Osmire’s stammered reply is interrupted when Specialist Mariah, no longer sporting the teasing grin of moments ago, reports back.

“Commander, faint sensor contact, Bearing two-eight-six Mark one-five[2], range 500km”

Dia’s expression stiffens into a blank mask. _286? That puts it almost directly on our port side._ “On-screen.” She orders, rising from the center seat and absently tugging downward on her uniform shirt. Specialist Mariah taps out a command, then ‘swipes’ the sensor data in the direction of the large holographic viewscreen along the front wall.

The screen lights up, initially displaying the space directly ahead of the vessel, before blinking over to what looks like nothing more than empty space. The grim-faced science officer continues to make adjustments at her station, and a series of false-color sensor filters give additional color to the faint orange-tinged white of the Dyson Sphere’s atmosphere. As the officer continues to work at refining the contact, the other occupants of the bridge slowly come to see a small dark shape against the emptiness.

Humor and levity had long left the minds of the on-duty crew, all present now focused on the readouts from their stations or the main viewscreen. _So much for a quiet shift._ Dia grumbles inwardly. Outwardly, she gives two commands, no sign of her internal discussion present. “Ensign Osmire, return to your station; Specialist Mariah, I need more information before I can sound Red Alert, can you provide a more concrete identification of the contact?”

“not with the information we’re getting from passive scans.” Mariah says. “To be blunt, we’re lucky we even noticed it on a passive sweep. The object is faintly radiating, just barely distinguishable from the background radiation of the Sphere.” As she was speaking, one of the automatic doors at the back of the bridge opened with a quiet _swoosh,_ revealing the narrow confines of a turbolift car, including one passenger.

Dia glances over her shoulder and resists the urge to smile “Lieutenant Commander Sakurauchi, perfect timing, your expertise would be appreciated at the primary sensor stations.”

The slender redheaded science officer is brought up short, amber eyes widening in startlement at the sudden request. “E-eh? Um, o-of course, yes ma’am.” She moves over to the position she typically occupies on Alpha shift, the Primary Sciences Console directly to the right of the Captain’s chair. Her outward compliance belying her inward dismay.

Meanwhile, Specialist Mariah was noticeably less on edge now that her department supervisor was on the bridge, moved over to an adjacent console and forwarded all available information to the primary Sciences station. A quiet triple-beep from the station indicated that the data had been received, and Riko set to work analyzing the data.

As the newest arrival on the bridge began her work, Ensign Osmire nervously made a suggestion “P-permission to run a high-power active scan with the main deflector dish?”

Dia mulls it over for a few seconds. _Running an active sweep would alert a potential attacker that we’re aware of them, possibly provoking an attack. On the other hand, It could also scare them off, knowing they’ve been spotted before they could finish positioning themselves for an attack._ Knowing she’d probably regret her choice no matter which she made, Dia gave the order. “Granted, excellent suggestion Ensign.”

“thank you Commander, charging the deflector dish for one high-intensity scan. Ready on your order.” Osmire replied.

Before ordering the scan to commence, a thought occurred to the Commander. “Ensign, what do you have the focus of the sweep set at?”

The response is instantaneous, “sensor pulse is currently set to a 90° focus Commander.”

“decrease the angle of the sweep to 6° and begin when ready. I would prefer to avoid alerting everything around the contact to our awareness at the moment.”

“Sweep area set to 6° Aye Ma’am, going active in five seconds.”

Dia takes her seat at the center chair as the scan commences. A pencil-thin beam of dimly glowing energy made visible by the false-color filters of the main viewscreen lancing outwards from the _Aqours_ ’ main deflector dish towards the distant contact; Dissipating into the alien atmosphere of the Dyson sphere an instant later as the scan concluded.

“Sensor returns analyzed Commander, object is of a cylindrical shape, approximately 3 meters in length, and 1 meter in diameter.” The report came from Specialist Mariah this time, compiling and reading the data returned by the sweep. She continued reading; “composed of a specific duranium alloy most often seen in the construction of Voth warships.”

\------

 _Geez, all I wanted to do was find Yocchan, I’m off duty right now! It’s probably just battle debris anyways._ Standing at her station next to the Captain’s chair, Riko simultaneously reviewed the passive sensor data they’d recorded on the object, and internally bemoaned her current situation. As she continued to examine the data, Riko found herself paying closer attention to the section of the report pertaining to radiation emissions from the object.

 _This can’t be accurate, this sort of energy pattern would indicate that we’re looking at a live warhead!_ Moving at a more urgent pace now, Riko shifted her attention to the screen beside her, accessing Starfleet’s fleetwide sensor data archives; pulling up a report submitted by the _U.S.S. Mitaiken Horizon_ , an _Odyssey_ -Class ship that was currently assigned to the front lines of the Delta Quadrant fending off the Vaadwar, but that had previously spent considerable time assigned to the Solanae Dyson Sphere. According to reports filed by the _Horizon’s_ chief science officer, a Voth defector named Nelan Exil, Voth warships were armed with an unusual armament of antiproton beam arrays, point-defense antiproton turrets, and transphasic torpedo launchers.

Riko accessed the raw sensor data attached to the report, navigating to the section labeled ‘radiative output,’ then instructed the computer to compare it to the passive sensor data recorded a few minutes ago.

“—struction of Voth warships.”

It was a near-perfect match.

\------

The rest of the Specialist’s report was interrupted by a flash of light from the viewscreen. Followed immediately by an exclamation from a junior officer at the primary Tactical station. “Commander! the computer has just classified the object as a live transphasic torpedo, It’s powered up!”

To say that the device was merely ‘powered up’ was a serious understatement. Where before it had merely been a dark speck in the distance, now the object was a brightly glowing pale gold oblong, bright enough that if one were to stand on the hull, it would have been visible with the naked eye.

However, before Dia could even react to this latest information, she heard yet another report. This time from the Science station to her right, from Riko. “Commander, two passive sensor contacts, Bearing two-one-zero, Mark one-seventy; and one-five-zero Mark one-eighty[2], range is under 300 kilometers. I’m classifying them as additional transphasic warheads.”

That was all the information Dia needed. “Shields Up, Red Alert! All hands, General Quarters!” as she gave the order, Dia was simultaneously tapping the appropriate touch inputs on the captain’s chair to bring the ship to full combat alert status. “Helm, evasive pattern Tau-Bravo-thirty one, Tactical, get a firing solution on those warheads.” She then tapped the combadge pinned to her uniform, “Senior Officers to the bridge, we’re under attack.”

** End Chapter One **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Andorians have 4 genders, _zhen, shen, chan_ , and _thaan. Zhen_ and _Shen_ are analogous to females, whilst _Chan_ and _Thaan_ are similar to males.  
> However, all four are required in order to reproduce, contributing to the dangerously low birthrate of the Andorian and Aenar races  
> [2] https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Bearing


	2. Captain Yō Watanabe and Commander Chika Takami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more character interaction! YAY  
> some fluff! YAY  
> weird-ass chapter order! YA-wait.......

** Chapter Two **

**5 hours prior to the previous chapter**

_“Captain’s Log, Stardate 87101.817 (15:55). The Aqours is currently escorting a large convoy of unarmed bulk freighters across the Solanae Dyson Sphere, on course for the Iconian Gateway to the Delta Quadrant orbiting the Solanae Star. When Command gave me this assignment, Admiral Quinn described it as ‘A shakedown cruise in all but name,’ and I was informed that this assignment was intended to give the crew a chance to become accustomed to the new ship before we’re assigned to the Kobali Prime defense fleet.” After Commander Kurosawa assumes command for her shift, I will be meeting Chika-cha-, I mean Commander Takami for a dat-briefing! I mean briefing! Over dinner. **Sigh** Computer, delete log.”_

Captain Yō Watanabe leaned back in the command chair and pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. _Another flubbed log entry_ , _dangit._ She glanced around the bridge, from Ruby and Hanamaru at the Conn and Ops stations, Riko hard at work at the primary Science station, to Yoshiko quietly berating one of the junior officers near the Tactical Station.

 _Actually_ , Yō took a closer look at her Security Chief. _Is that a Raktajino **[1]**stain on her uniform? _At this, the young Captain struggled to contain a laugh. _The poor kid must’ve tripped over the step up._ By this point, Yō’s Vulcan-Human Security Chief had been chewing the junior officer out for several minutes, and she decided that it was probably time to intervene. Lest the terrified man request a transfer to a different ship, one where the Security Chief _wasn’t_ a chuuni Vulcan. _The Fallen Angel’s curse strikes again._

“Yohane-sama,” Yō began in a faux-servile tone, “have you sent me the Security report for this shift yet? Dia’s gonna be here to start Beta Shift soon, and she’ll want those reports on her PADD before I turn over command.”

Yoshiko, her train of thought thoroughly derailed and mood definitely soured, responded with an irritated grunt before dismissing the crewman and returning to the mundane task of preparing the end-of-shift report.

Yō’s attention was suddenly drawn to the sensation of something small and firm being gently placed on her head, eliciting a bright smile and a fond greeting. “Thank you for the mikan Chika, but you do remember we’re having dinner together after my shift, right?”

“Eeeehhhh~? But scurvy is a real threat to any sailor!” such was the teasing, more-than-a-little silly response of Yō’s First Officer, closest friend, and longtime girlfriend, Chika Takami. Aside from the other senior officers, their relationship was kept off the books due to Starfleet regulations regarding conflicts of interest. Though if Yō was completely honest with herself, she wasn’t sure how they’d managed to keep it under wraps with how affectionate Chika was on a regular basis.

“Bu-Buu, vitamin C deficiency has never been a major concern for Starfleet, Takami-San” And there was her relief! Several steps behind Chika, following at a far more sedate pace, came Dia.

The dark-haired engineer looked up from her personal PADD and greeted Yō with a regulation-perfect salute and a professional: “Good afternoon Captain, are you ready to begin?”

“Hello to you too Dia-san.” returns the greeting, then continues. “And I will be as soon as Yohane-sama completes her shift report.” Yō throws a grin towards the Tactical station, just to make sure the officer in question knows that she’s teasing.

Apparently her effort was wasted, as Yoshiko’s response was a snapped: “I’m almost done! You try writing up a report with a fresh coffee stain down your front!” Yō inwardly whistled in surprised amusement when Yoshiko pauses in her frantic typing to shoot a baleful glare towards the three officers around the center seat, amethyst eyes practically glowing in annoyed frustration.

“Tsushima-san, carry on.” Dia cuts in, clearly annoyed by the unprofessional display. “Captain, I’m sure you have plans” she turns to face Yō, then continues. “so shall we begin?”

Yō gives Chika a faux-exasperated eye-roll before standing. She tugs her uniform shirt down, takes a short look around the bridge, then replies. “Alright, sounds good.”

Dia nods once, “In that case,” she comes to attention, snapping off a sharp salute. “I relieve you Captain.”

“I am relieved, Commander.” Yō returns the salute, then shifts her attention upwards, and she lightly taps the commbadge pinned to her uniform. “Computer,”

They hear the multi-tone chirp signaling the computer’s attention. “Update Ship's Log,” here she pauses to steal a glance at her wrist device, then continues. “Stardate 87103.197, at 1600 hours, Commander Dia Kurosawa assumes command for Beta shift, authorization Zebra-Zebra, Four-Watanabe. End Log”

Change of command complete, Yō spins around and marches for the turbolift hatch in the back corner, snagging her First Officer by the elbow as she does. Calling, “You have the conn Dia-chan!” over her shoulder as she drags Chika into the lift behind her.

The doors cycled shut, and Yō ordered the lift to take them to “Deck three, Senior Officers Quarters.” As the small compartment smoothly slid into motion, Yō finally allowed herself to truly relax, shoulder’s drooped, posture slumped, and she dropped her head to lean on the shoulder of her closest companion with an exhausted sigh.

“eh? Yō-chan? What’s wrong?” the sudden change in the atmosphere surrounding her girlfriend prompted a worried inquiry from Chika, as this sort of exhausted neutrality was completely at odds with her usual energetic optimism.

“I’m okay Chika, just…” A long, slow breath before she continued. “feeling a little drained is all. Being the captain is way harder than I ever thought it would be.” The two officers felt the lift slide to a stop, and Yō resumed her previous poise and posture, in the off chance there was a junior officer waiting outside the lift. Wouldn’t do for the Captain to be seen leaning on her First Officer after all. Fortunately, the corridor directly outside the lift was unoccupied, allowing the pair to continue their conversation unobserved.

“It’s just…. I’m responsible for so many lives.” Yō continued. “not just mine, but yours, Riko-chan’s, and everyone else.” As the couple continued both their leisurely walk towards their shared quarters, and this surprisingly heavy conversation, Yō clasps her hands together behind her back and leans into a stretch.

A period of companionable silence follows Yō’s stretch, broken only once the door to their quarters slides shut. “Captain you may be, but you’re also **My** Yō-chan.” Chika punctuates the last part of her statement with a fierce hug from behind and a kiss to the cheek, before continuing in a softer tone. “You have me, Riko-chan, Dia-chan, Kanan-chan, all of our friends. You can always rely on us a little more.”

In the next moment, it’s as if a switch is thrown, and the serious mood evaporates like a morning fog in the light of the sun. Chika releases Yō from the hug and gives her a light shove towards the closet. “Now! You go get out of that uniform while I get dinner.”

Recovering from the mild mood whiplash took only a second or two, time in which Yō thought to herself; _what did I do to deserve such amazing friends?_ She watches her First Officer, closest friend, partner, and (apparently) now her personal cheerleader skip over to the wall mounted replicator unit.

“Thanks, Chika.”

5 Hours later…

* * *

Yō drifts into awareness with a familiar mop of orange hair directly beneath her nose, the comforting sensation of falling asleep in the embrace of your lover the last thing she remembered before falling asleep.

She blearily looks over to the old-fashioned digital clock on a table across the room, the peaceful green glow informing her that she’d woken up three hours early, a rare occurrence.

Just as Yō decides upon returning to sleep, she feels it. A rumble in the decking below the bed; a minor shift in the tempo of the ever-present hum that is felt more than it is heard. She lifts herself from the mattress into a reclined position, not entirely awake, but certainly more alert. Then the light panels lining the floors and ceilings switch on of their own accord, illuminating the Captain’s quarters in an eerie red glow.

Not even seconds later, the shipwide communications channel opened, broadcasting the voice of the _Aqours’_ second officer to every corner of the vessel. _“Red Alert! All Hands, General Quarters!”_ the announcement was followed by the shrilling wail of the General Quarters siren[2], punctuated by the constrastingly calm voice of the ship’s computer repeating the call to arms. _“Red Alert, All hands report to your combat positions,_ _This is not a drill. Red Alert.”_

The last vestiges of sleep banished by the alert siren, Yō scramble’s out of the covers, stopping only for an instant to shove the still-sleeping Chika out of the bed with a harried “Chika, Get up!” before hurriedly shrugging on her black and royal blue uniform jacket, and dashing out the door; Chika a few seconds behind still struggling to pull her own jacket over her pajamas.

They’re halfway to the turbolift shaft when their badges chirp, signaling an incoming hail _“Senior Officers to the bridge, we’re under attack.”_

Yō reaches up and gives her badge a firm _thwack_ and replies “This is Watanabe, I’m on my way.”

**End Chapter 2**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Raktajino
> 
> [2] https://youtu.be/Gy-90IFwppM

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my second foray into the exciting worlds of Love Live and Star Trek. if you enjoyed it, please leave a kudos and a review  
> Constructive criticism is always welcome.  
> As are suggestions for improvement


End file.
